This application is based on Patent Application No. 11-182735 filed in Japan, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data input apparatus having a multiple lens unit for obtaining three-dimensional data.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, one data input apparatus having a multiple lens unit is known as a passive type three-dimensional data input apparatus. The data input apparatus having a multiple lens unit is provided with a plurality of input units for obtaining two-dimensional images, and a calculation unit for calculating three-dimensional data based on the plurality of obtained two-dimensional images.
Generation of three-dimensional data using this apparatus specifies one image among the plurality of two-dimensional images as a standard image. All coordinate points within a range representing the photographic subject in the standard image are used in determining corresponding coordinate points in the other two-dimensional images. The position of a point in three-dimensional space is determined according to the stereo view principle and is the basis of the correspondence relationship of coordinate points (corresponding points) The aggregate position data of the determined points are the three-dimensional data of the photographic subject.
In the conventional apparatus described above, when a region present in one two-dimensional image is not present in another two-dimensional image, the correspondence points between the two images cannot be determined. Furthermore, erroneous points may be designated as correspondence points. In such instances, the three-dimensional data include the erroneous points, and a truly accurate three-dimensional image cannot be formed.
Accordingly, the precision of the search for corresponding points must be improved in order to reconstruct the three-dimensional shape with greater accuracy. For this reason, occlusion (angles which define an area where neither sensor senses the photographic object) must be eliminated as far as possible in the region representing the photographic subject of a plurality of two-dimensional images. Two-dimensional images having relatively small parallax must be obtained between the plurality of two-dimensional images so as to avoid large shifts in the coordinates representing viewing focus points of the photographic subject.
Art for minimizing parallax in stereo cameras is described in an apparatus disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent No. HEI 9-74572. This conventional device displays right and left two-dimensional images on respective screens, and controls parallax between right and left two-dimensional images on the screen via special circuits by providing special circuits such as a parallax calculator, display screen controller, readout pulse controller and the like. In this conventional device, however, the circuitry is complex because parallax is controlled by calculations performed by the special circuits.
In view of these disadvantages, the present invention performs photography while confirming photographic conditions so as to minimize parallax without occlusion. An object of the present invention is to provide a data input apparatus having a multiple lens unit capable of improving the precision of the search for correspondence points and improving accuracy when reconstructing a three-dimensional image.
The present invention attains these objects by providing a data input apparatus having a multiple lens unit comprising an image input device for inputting two-dimensional images of a photographic subject from a plurality of mutually different viewpoint positions; a display for displaying the two-dimensional image input by the image input device; and a controller for displaying on the display an image formed by mutually overlaying a plurality of two-dimensional images input by the image input device.
This data input apparatus having a multiple lens unit is further provided with a calculator for calculating three-dimensional data of a photographic subject based on the two-dimensional images.
The image input device is capable of variable baseline length.
The image input device is capable of variable photographic direction.
The controller simultaneously displays a plurality of two-dimensional images on the display.
The controller alternatingly displays a plurality of two-dimensional images on the display at fixed periods.
The data input apparatus having a multiple lens unit is provided with an extractor for extracting from the two-dimensional images the areas targeted as the object of three-dimensional data calculation in the photographic subject, wherein the controller displays on the display an image formed by mutually overlaying the extracted two-dimensional images.